The International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR) was inaugurated in 2001 to foster scientific progress and collaboration among members of the international autism research community. Initiated by a collaboration of autism scientists at the M.I.N.D. Institute at the University of California, Davis, and two parent sponsored research organizations, Cure Autism Now, and the National Alliance for Autism research, IMFAR established the only annual scientific meeting dedicated to autism research in the world. The meeting provided strong representation of both behavioral and biological scientists working in basic and applied approaches to understanding and treating autism. The recent funding initiatives for autism research have created a network of programs and centers for autism research, and with that a need for an annual scientific meeting that brings together those scientific networks and the rest of the autism scientific world community. The strong representation of postdoctoral and predoctoral trainees attending with their mentors demonstrates the crucial training and career development role that IMFAR can have in developing the next generation of autism scientists. The program will feature 400-600 submitted papers, 2-6 invited symposia, 6 invited addresses on specific themes related to cutting edge autism research, and more than a 100 posters. Awards for lifetime achievement in autism research and outstanding student research paper are presented. The two-day conference features significant opportunities for dialogue in each paper session, around meals and breaks, and in a reception preceding the award presentation, thus assuring ample opportunity for informal scientific exchange and student-researcher dialogue. IMFAR will be located at various cities of reasonable size and transportation service, to support international attendees. In some years the conference will be preceded by a one-day workshop on a specific set of developing technologies relevant to autism research to support research development among the attendees.